07/07/2016
Together with the industrialization and modernization, the demand of using recycled materials increases the volumes of hazardous waste in production as well as in refuse import into Việt Nam. Therefore, currently the management and control of hazardous waste is an urgent task in environmental protection.
Regarding regulations on hazardous waste management, currently there are some documents directly regulating the management of hazardous waste and refuse import such as: The Law on Environmental Protection 2014, Decree no. 38/2015/ND-CP, Decision no. 73/2014/QD-TTg, Circular no. 36/2015/TT-BTNMT, Circular no. 41/2015/TT-BTNMT and some other relevant documents which are considered to be detailed and adequate.
Volumes of refuse import into Việt Nam during 2011 - 2013
|
No. |
Refuse type |
Import volume (tonnes/year) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Quarter IV/2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
||
|
1 |
Metal |
277,430 |
2,958,495 |
3,455,943 |
|
2 |
Plastics |
23,980 |
313,262 |
1,604,872 |
|
3 |
Paper/package |
36,550 |
228,600 |
4,282,131 |
|
4 |
Gypsum |
19,903 |
33,331 |
|
|
5 |
Slag sand |
27,250 |
96,988 |
56,422 |
|
9 |
Other refuse |
|
|
1,466,679 |
|
|
Total |
385,113 |
3,630,676 |
10,866,047 |
(Source: Vietnam Environment Administration)
However, according to reports of the Việt Nam Customs, the illegal import of hazardous waste into the territory of Việt Nam tends to increase quantitatively; in most cases, it is impossible to identify the owner of the goods or after the identification of the owner, it is impossible to identify the address and the company at countries that export those goods. Therefore, to address the illegal import of hazardous waste into Việt Nam, in addition to the development of a full and rigid legal system, it is important to have a close and effective collaboration between environmental police, investigation police, and Interpol office to prevent “unreal” enterprises to illegally export hazardous wastes into Việt Nam.
During 2013 - 2015, the number of enterprises involving in refuse export and import was about 200 - 250, of which almost all of them imported refuse such as: iron, steel, paper, plastics, zinc, copper...
According to statistics of the Environmental Crime Prevention and Fighting Police Department (C49), the number of criminal cases and environmental protection violation cases in hazardous waste management during 2007 - 2013 increased rapidly, 137 cases discovered in 2007 and 651 cases in 2013.
Number of environmental violation cases in hazardous waste management during 2007 - 2013
|
Year |
Discovered case |
Subject |
Prosecution, prosecution request |
Administrative penalty |
|||
|
Case |
Subject |
Individual |
Organisation |
EP penalty and fee payment (billion dong) |
|||
|
2007 - 2008 |
137 |
151 |
0 |
|
101 |
50 |
1.25 |
|
2009 |
322 |
411 |
0 |
|
271 |
140 |
1.75 |
|
2010 |
346 |
423 |
0 |
|
270 |
153 |
2.1 |
|
2011 |
388 |
429 |
0 |
|
282 |
147 |
2.35 |
|
2012 |
422 |
451 |
0 |
|
293 |
158 |
2.91 |
|
2013 |
651 |
596 |
0 |
|
235 |
361 |
2.15 |
|
Total |
2,176 |
2,461 |
0 |
|
1,452 |
1,009 |
12.42 |
(Source: C49, Ministry of Public Affairs)
Number of specialized cases on hazardous wastes implemented by C49
|
Year |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
|
Number of implemented specialized cases |
4 |
9 |
7 |
5 |
11 |
15 |
(Source: C49, Ministry of Public Affairs)
Recent illegal import of refuse and waste in seaports in Việt Nam shows that reasons for stockpiles and disqualified circulation are mostly because the name holders do not collect the goods as they do not correspond to those stated in the contract; enterprises as the intermediary for foreign enterprises do not collect goods as they do not have relevant papers; temporary re-export goods to a third country are unable to export to the third country as they are ineligible for export to these countries. Stockpile goods in seaports are mostly machines, old equipment, used rubber tires, refuse, old clothes, and used electronic and electronic equipment...
In recent years, almost all violation cases of illegal import of hazardous waste into Vietnam are discovered thanks to the participation and investigation of the environmental police and investigation police. According to C49 of the Ministry of Public Security, of 120 violation cases, the number of corporation violators (enterprises) is 87, including Vietnamese enterprises, foreign enterprises and joint venture enterprises. The proportion of corporation is 72.5% (87/120 cases), of which foreign-invested enterprises accounts for 26.4%, Vietnamese enterprises makes up 73.6%. Individuals have 23 cases with 84 subjects, including Vietnamese of 59 (making up 70.2%), foreign nationalities of 25 (accounting for 29.8%) mainly from Korea, China, and Malaysia. Typical example is the discovery and handling of illegal export of refuse and wastes into Việt Nam such as the Longtech Precision Limited Company with 100% capital of Taiwan (Bắc Ninh); the environmental crime prevention and control police has collaborated with the economic security force (PA81) and Bắc Ninh province police to identify the origin and violation tricks of the Company, reveal behaviours of export of iron and steel that are dirty, and of refuse consisting of hazardous elements.
On the other hand, the environmental crime prevention force has collaborated with the Interpol Office to identify foreign partners and companies that export goods into Việt Nam that have violation symptoms. During 2008 - 2013, the Interpol has supported and collaborated to discover tens of “unreal” enterprises that export hazardous wastes into Việt Nam; consequently, to identify many subjects operating in the hazardous waste management field coming from overseas and to timely inform relevant agencies.
Simultaneously, international cooperation also plays important roles in preventing illegal import of hazardous wastes. In recent years, some typical cases of illegal import of hazardous wastes have been prevented such as: Vu Hai Limited Company (Quang Ninh) imported 63,040 tonnes of lead battery plates but declared in customs as lead ore; Mega Star one member limited company and Vong Trong Limited company imported 86 containers (equivalent of 1,782 tonnes) of steel refuse mixed with oil and impurities through ports in Hồ Chí Minh City; Vinashin Cuu Long company under the title of importing equipment used for Red River Thermal Power Plant Project imported old electricity generators manufactured since 1960 in Korea, including one transformer containing about 4,000 litres of polychlorinated biphennyls oil (PCB)...
It could be said that, currently, Việt Nam only addresses cases that illegally imported goods at the ports but not focuses on preventing goods before arriving at the ports. Therefore, in the upcoming time, together with the formulation and implementation of legal documents, the coordination among environmental police and investigation police, Interpol Office, and relevant departments in preventing illegal import of hazardous wastes in Việt Nam plays necessary roles.
MSc. Lê Thanh Nga
Institute of Environment Science
Vietnam Environment Administration
